Crown lawyer Mark Levitz and his team leaving court after Day 3 of the Surrey Six trial at the Supreme Court in Vancouver on October 2, 2013. Levitz handed Justice Catherine Wedge five binders laying out the Crown's closing submissions on Wednesday, July 2, 2014.Mark van Manen
/ PNG

Accused Surrey Six killer Matt Johnston captured on surveillance video. Prosecutor Mark Levitz laid out sensational details in court Monday about an alleged confession on a white board that Johnston made to another gangster on the day of the murders.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jamie Bacon: Red Scorpion founder Michael Le testified Tuesday that he knew nothing about a 2013 conversation in which his lawyer allegedly offered assurances to Bacon's lawyer that Le would not implicate Bacon in the Surrey Six murder plot.Handout
/ Vancouver Sun files

Red Scorpion founder Michael Le testified at the Surrey Six trial Tuesday that he knows there's blood on his hands for the Oct. 19, 2007 slayings of six at Surrey's Balmoral Tower even though he didn't order the hit.Handout
/ Abbotsford Police Department

Kevin LeClair, right, and close friend of Jamie Bacon.Special to the Vancouver Sun
/ ...

Shell casings from suite 1505 where the Surrey Six murders took place.Handout
/ RCMP

Matt Johnston, now on trial for the Surrey Six murders, pictured here (left) in a 2008 file photo with fellow gang member Jonathan Bacon as they leave Abbotsford court after facing drug and weapons charges.Rick Collins
/ PNG Files

METRO VANCOUVER — Surrey Six prosecutor Mark Levitz said the grisly crime scene inside suite 1505 in the Balmoral Tower proves the killers fled almost immediately after they shot six men execution-style about 2:45 p.m. on Oct. 19, 2007.

Levitz warned family members of the victims that he was going to describe the horrific crime scene where the bodies of Corey Lal, his brother Michael, Eddie Narong, Ryan Bartolomeo, Ed Schellenberg and Chris Mohan were discovered.

On the second day of his closing arguments, Levitz said all the evidence proves the murders were committed by Red Scorpion gangsters Cody Haevischer, Matt Johnston and a man who can only be identified as Person X.

The forensic evidence matches the testimony of witnesses and video surveillance that all fits together to prove the Crown's case, Levitz told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge.

There were no bloody footprints, he said, suggesting "the killers did not stay at the crime scene for any significant lengths of time after the murders occurred."

"It is inconceivable and contrary to common sense that the killers would linger in the confines of suite 1505 after killing six people in the macabre circumstances demonstrated by the crime scene evidence," Levitz said. "Common sense also dictates that having shot six persons they would leave as soon as possible to avoid being caught for these most serious crimes."

Levitz said the evidence of two women leaving a bible study group who saw suspicious hooded men in the Balmoral parkade both before and after the murders bolsters the Crown's cases.

"As a prosecutor I would be reluctant to say after the O.J. Simpson case that the glove perfectly fits the hand," Levitz said. "But I will say that when Mrs. [Helen] Lee and Mrs. [Young Mee] Kim's evidence is put together with all the evidence I have gone through with the court today, it does fit perfectly to prove that it was Haevischer, Johnston and [Person X] who they saw."

Levitz spent much of Thursday defending two key Crown witnesses who were both involved in the criminal activities of the Red Scorpion gang before they decided to cooperate with police.

He said a former Red Scorpion who can be identified only as Person Y was not motivated by revenge or money but by the desire to help victims' families get justice.

"He had no motive to come before this court to pull the wool over this court's eyes," Levitz said.

He said Y willingly pleaded guilty to two unrelated murders and is now serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

Y had agreed to kill rival drug trafficker Corey Lal for Bacon back in October 2007 but pulled out of the plot when Bacon wanted the murder done with others.

He testified that Johnston, Haevischer and Person X committed the murders on right after he gave X his gun.

"He said his prime motivation for coming forward was his disillusion with a life of crime and his desire to be done with the game. And the only way he saw to be sure his criminal life was over was to become the biggest rat and he did that by approaching the police on his own volition," Levitz said.

He read portions of Y's testimony where the longtime criminal said he wanted to help get justice for the families.

Levitz also tried to head off anticipated defence attacks on the credibility of Haevischer's former girlfriend, who can be identified only as KM.

He said he expects defence lawyers to argue "that the only reason she cooperated was basically to save her bacon — I hate to use that word in this case . . . and I guess because of the money she subsequently received and because she felt wronged by Mr. Haevischer."

Levitz countered that KM was extremely honest about her motives, which should bolster her credibility. She even testified about contemplating suicide rather than aiding police.

KM "testified that she did what she felt was the right thing because she felt pressured by . . . somebody she considered her family," Levitz said.

And he said much of KM's evidence about what happened before and after the murders is supported by video surveillance.

"There is no getting around what's seen in these surveillance videos. They are what they are. You can see what you can see. And it is powerful evidence that corroborates what she says about the comings and goings of Haevischer, Johnston and [Person X] that day," he said.

Levitz is expected to complete his closing submissions Friday. Defence lawyers for Haevischer and Johnston will make their arguments next week.

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